Poll Watch In CDS’s U’khand village, murmurs against Agnipath
PAURI GARHWAL: Nitin Kaparwan faces a dilemma — whether to continue his preparation to don the camouflage uniform under the short-term Agnipath recruitment scheme or join his friends in the hotel industry. Though the 19-year-old resident of Gawana village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district has a role model in chief of defence staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, whose ancestral village he lives in, he says the army job isn’t as attractive for youngsters anymore.
Gawana is around 20km from Srinagar, a major town in Pauri Garhwal district on the Char Dham route. Hit by migration due to the lack of basic facilities, jobs, and poor connectivity, the remote village is inhabited by around 60 people — mostly elderly and women.
“The youngsters don’t find the army job charming after the rollout of Agnipath scheme. Those still interested are very few now. It’s a drastic change for our state. If eight out of 10 youngsters were interested earlier, it has come down to just two,” Nitin said. “My friends who earlier aspired to join the army are now joining the hotel industry. Army was once the first choice for us, and the hotel industry second. Now the choice has reversed.”
Introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union governent in June 2022, the Agnipath scheme seeks to recruit soldiers for four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in the regular cadre for 15 years after another round of screening. Those recruited are called Agniveers.
Nitin’s 16-year-old brother Vipin, a Class 9 student, doesn’t even want to prepare for the army. “If the scheme is withdrawn, and there is job security as earlier, I can think about preparing for the army,” Vipin says.
Darshan Singh Chauhan, 58, recalls the time when his famous cousin, General Anil Chauhan, became the country’s second CDS in September 2022, but says his appointment as the senior most defence officer hasn’t done any good in bringing back the losing interest of youngsters in the army.
“The trend of preparing for the army has come down over the years and the younger generation prefers to work in the private sector…,” he says.
Meena Devi, the sister-in-law of General Chauhan, adds, “Children are not going into the army because of the Agnipath scheme. They say what they will do after four years.”
Corroborating that the Agnipath scheme needs a “re-consideration,” a retired government employee, requesting anonymity, says he is unsure if it would make an election issue. “There are many issues such as Agniveer, unemployment and broken roads, but the discussion around this election is confined to [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s name,” he says.
Soon after the scheme was introduced, protests erupted in different parts of the state. Uttarakhand, which goes to polls on April 19, is known for its immense contribution to the defence forces.
State’s Sainik welfare minister Ganesh Joshi said, “Currently there are around 60,000 to 70,000 people from the state who are serving in the Indian Army. Apart from this, the state has over 1.5 lakh (150,000) ex-servicemen... Annually, Uttarakhand contributes around 17 % of soldier recruitments in the Indian Army.”
In Garhwal, which has a huge population of serving and retired personnel, the Congress is relying heavily on discontentment among people over the Agnipath scheme — the party in its manifesto has promised to revoke it if voted to power. Ganesh Godiyal, the Congress candidate from the seat, took a swipe at the scheme, saying: “The Agniveer scheme has been introduced to retire our youth at the age between 22 and 25. It is cheating...”
State BJP leader Ravindra Jugran said: “Defence minister Rajnath Singh has already said that the Centre is open to changing the Agnipath recruitment scheme, if necessary.”